Republican Presidential nominee John McCain has announced his running mate is a 44 year old hunting, shooting mother of five. No, its not me! Her name is Sarah Palin and she is the Governor of Alaska. McCain, like his opponent Obama has clearly gone for a balanced ticket with Palin expected to appeal to disgruntled feminist Democrats as well as the hunting and fishing lobby. Palin is the second only female vice-presidential candidate following Geraldine Ferraro who stood on the 1984 Democratic ticket with Mondale.
August 2008
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Minutes ago Winston Peters stood aside from his Ministerial portfolios of Foreign Affairs, Racing and Senior Citizens. Helen Clark has picked up these responsibilities for the moment. Attention will now turn to the Serious Fraud Office investigation. Unlike a few die-hard Greypower supporters the SFO clearly thinks this is more than just a case of character assassination. |
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Those tuning in to Parliament’s Question time today would have witnessed a disgraceful display of ‘3D politics’ - delay, deny, denigrate – which is Labour’s standard modus operandi when they are in trouble. They have a BIG problem and his name is Winston Peters. Labour needs NZ First’s vote to get legislation through before Parliament rises for the election. Most notably they need the 7 votes to pass the Emission Trading Scheme Bill. To alienate Winston now, even though they know it’s the right thing to do, is to admit defeat. |
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Since the 'no nuclear propelled ships in New Zealand waters' legislation was introduced by the Lange Government in in the mid '80s New Zealand troops have only paricipated in joint training exercises involving US forces on a very limited basis. Prior to this we participated regularly in joint training exercises. New Zealand troops from Burnam military camp are about to head off to a joint training exercise - Exercise Co-operative Spirit at a German military base - alongside troops from a number of other countries including the US. This is being hailed as a breakthrough in relations with the US, but is it really? |
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It's not often that I make a foray into Foreign Affairs but I'm pleased to report that my first prediction has been successful. Senator Biden has a most unhappy personal history. Shortly after he was elected as Senator of Delaware he and his family were involved in a serious car accident. His wife was killed, as was his young daughter and his two young sons were injured. He was sworn into office at the hospital bedsides of his children. He had to be persuaded to continue to hold office as he considered devoting himself to the full-time care of his infant sons. In his time in the senate (he has been a Senator now for 20 years) Senator Biden has become well regarded for his work on Foreign Relations - an area where Obama is not considered to be strong. He has also adopted strong lines on crime and civil liberties. |
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The results are out on the petition for the highly publicised smacking referendum. The petition as presented to parliament's Office of the Clerk had 390,000 signatures. For a referendum (non-binding) to be held requires 300,000 valid signatures and Clerk of the House Mary Harris has announced that an audit of the petition found around 310,000 signatures were valid, once double-ups and those not entitled to sign were excluded. The referendum will ask : "Should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal offence in New Zealand?". |
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I have long had doubts about the system of primary races used in the United States to determine who the presidential candidate should be. However, in Barack Obama and John McCain the American people have two candidates of the first calibre. As they have become the established candidates speculation has turned to who they might choose to be their respective vice-presidential running mates. Senator McCain has yet to decide on his vie-presidential candidate but Senator Obama has let it be known that he has a person lined up but hasn't made a formal announcement as to who it is. Many have speculated that Mr Obama might choose Hilary Clinton but my own feeling is that the race between them was too bitter to be forgotten. A host of other candidates are being debated in the US. |
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The seven Wellington Region electorates have launched their Campaign Office with an opening function last night. It's the Glasshouse (attached to the end of the larger building housing the Indus Restaurant) in a great spot at the corner of Tinakori Road and Harriet St in Thorndon. Look out for our signage in the window as you come off the Tinakori off-ramp from the motorway and drop in to pick up information or find out more about our campaign. I had to leave the opening early to attend Parliament's Privileges Committee hearing - Winston Peters and his barrister Brian Henry were giving evidence. Look out for the news to hear progress on this case. |
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There were three political polls out over the weekend - Roy Morgan on Friday, Fairfax on Saturday and the Colmar Brunton today. Recently a friend introduced me to 'Pulse of the Nation' - an on-line virtual election where you can cast a party vote once a fortnight, then attempt to predict the result of the election. The next ballot closes at midday this Wednesday. Visit Pulse to participate. |
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Welcome to Royters - my blog launched today as part of the 'new look' roy.org.nz website. I'll be posting topical political issues and maybe even the odd piece of political gossip. Comments of course are encouraged. As ACTs National Security spokesman I've become frustrated about the lack of progress on the sale of the Air Combat Force jets so to lead off it's the grounded and latex bound Skyhawks. Skyhawks radio interview - taking on the Minister of Defence |
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